A former Massachusetts school superintendent is facing charges after he allegedly offered to engage in sex with a Worcester police detective for money, police said Friday.

Steven Bliss, 46, of Braintree, has been charged with trafficking in a person for sexual servitude and offering $200 for sex, police said.

Bliss currently heads CATS Academy in Braintree, a new boarding school that caters to international students. Neither Bliss nor CATS officials immediately responded to requests for comment.

Previously, Bliss was the superintendent of the Southbridge public schools for two months in 2015 before a controversial resignation in which he cited an unspecified medical issue.

Before that, he was superintendent of Dover-Sherborn public schools for two years, between 2013 and 2015. He was a finalist to lead the Braintree school system last year.

Bliss was released on personal recognizance after a court appearance Tuesday and is due back at Worcester Central District Court on Oct. 17, the Worcester district attorney’s office said.

The arrest followed a weekslong investigation by Worcester detectives, police said, in which officers had numerous conversations with Bliss, who “offered to engage in sexual conduct for a fee.”

An undercover officer arranged to meet him at a McDonald’s in Worcester on Monday to supposedly complete the sex transaction, police said. When Bliss arrived, he was taken into custody by detectives.

“Based on the investigation and conversations, detectives developed probable cause that Bliss did in fact engage in commercial sex activity by communicating with an undercover officer and lured a person, through the promise of money, to engage in sexual activities,” police wrote.

CATS Academy, operated by an English company, moved this summer into the site of the former Norfolk County Hospital in Braintree, The Patriot Ledger reported. It had operated in Newton for four years.

"Sex offender charged with exposing himself near Lexington High School" by Dylan McGuinness Globe Correspondent September 09, 2016

A registered sex offender from Manchester, N.H., was held on $5,000 bail Friday after he allegedly exposed himself to female students near Lexington High School on Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.

Jacob Mobley-Hall, 31, was arrested around 2:45 p.m. Thursday, Lexington police said in a statement. He had been exposing himself on a “fitness path” that is off school property but leads from the high school to athletic fields, an area that is highly crowded at that time of the day, police said.

Mobley-Hall was ordered to stay away from the town of Lexington and his alleged victims should he post bail, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said.

In a statement, Mary Czajkowski, the superintendent of Lexington Public Schools, said the students were on their way to a soccer practice when the incident occurred.

“Student and staff safety is always our first priority, and we will continue to work with Lexington Police, as well as school and community to provide our students support and resources,” Czajkowski said in a statement.

A similar incident occurred Wednesday, police said. They said Mobley-Hall was the suspect in both cases.

Mobley-Hall was charged with seven counts of open and gross, lewd and lascivious behavior, police said.

He has three prior convictions of indecent exposure — one in 2008 and two in 2009 — according to New Hampshire’s Registration of Criminal Offenders. He has also been convicted of driving under the influence, failing to register after changing his name, and driving with a suspended license.

Mobley-Hall is due back in court on Oct. 7, officials said.

--more--"Was his charged dropped, too? Globe never got back to me. Time to staple this post together:

"Dorchester’s needy students get a hand with basic staples" by Olivia Quintana Globe Correspondent September 09, 2016

Children living in poverty can face a stigma at school because they lack the necessities they need to succeed. On Friday, one Boston school took a step toward meeting some of those needs.

The Mather Elementary School in Dorchester celebrated the opening of space that provides clothing, toiletries, and other supplies for needy or homeless students. It is operated by Catie’s Closet, a nonprofit that runs three dozen such spaces in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The Mather space is the first in the Boston public schools.

“Lack of clothing and basic necessities is really one of the top reasons why students are absent from school,” said Mickey Cockrell, a cofounder of Catie’s Closet, at Friday’s opening. “We want to help students fit in, to build that self-esteem, and really allow students to concentrate on school rather than the barriers to school.”

In a bright-yellow closet, students can find toiletries, uniform items, and other clothing. When students walk in, they are greeted by the message of “Never let anyone dull your sparkle” pasted on the wall. Mather students wear uniforms: khaki pants and blue polo shirts.

“This amazing space will be vital in helping some of our most vulnerable students,” Superintendent Tommy Chang said.

The organization’s name honors the daughter of cofounder Anne-Marie Bisson, Catie, who died at age 20 of a connective tissue disorder.

Bisson said the idea behind Catie’s Closet occurred to her when her daughter’s old school, Lowell High School, contacted her to create a scholarship in Catie’s name. Bisson felt that a scholarship did not help enough students, so she and her sisters decided to create the first closet.

“I kept thinking of a conversation that Catie and I had about the homeless kids at Lowell High, and when I asked her, ‘Did you know anyone who was homeless?’ She said, ‘Of course I did, Mom, but they just want to be like everybody else,’ ” Bisson said.

Mather’s assistant principal, Karyn Stranberg, said the school is expecting many families to take advantage of the closet.

“Catie’s Closet will be wonderful; we have a lot of children that will benefit,” she said. “It’s been an all-summer project and it’s nice to see that the finishing touches are being put on today so we can start using it soon.”

WASHINGTON — Congress sent President Obama a bipartisan bill that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, putting lawmakers on a collision course with the White House on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the attacks.

The House passed the legislation Friday by voice vote, about four months after the measure cleared the Senate despite objections from Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

The legislation gives victims’ families the right to sue in US court for any role that elements of the Saudi government may have played in the 2001 attacks that killed thousands in New York, the Washington, D.C., area and Pennsylvania.

The White House has signaled Obama would veto the legislation over the potential for it to backfire and apprehension about undermining a longstanding yet strained relationship with a critical US ally in the Middle East. The Obama administration has warned that if US citizens can take the Saudis to court, then a foreign country could in turn sue the United States. Votes from two-thirds of the members in the House and Senate would be needed to override a veto.

WARNING for European visitors: European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.